The
Origin of the Legend of the White Stag

The
Legend of the Wonderous Hind

The
Hungarian Legend of the Wondrous Stag is one of the oldest legends of
the nation. It is so old that it is found in various forms among those
nations who were the distant relatives or neighbors of the Hungarians,
long before their settlement in Hungary. The meaning and the wording of
the legends may have changed slightly but they all have much in common.
Today the remaining legend is relatively short, whereas in the past it
was probably much more extensive. However the Hungarian legend despite
it's brevity includes in it many important points some of which can be
found in most of the related legends found in other cultures. It is these
points which show that once, in the remote antiquity, these people were
neighbors or some were even related.

The symbol
of the cosmos and the mother of the sun was symbolized as a large horned
female doe. The great horned doe often was shown carrying the sun in her
horns, in some cases the sun itself was symbolized as a stag the son of
the doe of the legend. The following Christmas song told by the Hungarian
regos (bards) illustrate the stag as the carrier of the sun.

The hind
represents not the sun, but it's mother, the heavenly firmament, the cosmos,
which carries the stars, the sun and the moon in it's "horns".
For these reasons the Scythian stags often represented the horns of the
stag like flames.

Hungarian
Version of the Legend of the Hind

A long
time ago, thousands of years ago, in a distant land in Asia there was
once a great and powerful kingdom. It was bordered by tall mountains in
the north and a great southern sea in the south. From the mountains, two
mighty rivers flowed southwards to the sea watering the flat lowlands.
The people who lived there were famous for their arts, sciences and wisdom.
They lived in abundance and plenty.

It was
following the great flood that the people from the northern mountains
settled here and founded a new land. The king of the land was the giant
hunter Nimrod, the descendant of the great king Etana. (Tana in Hungarian,
Kus-Tana in Kushan-Scythian, or Etana in Sumerian, the king who lived
in the 3 rd millenium B.C. and according to the legend of Gilgamesh he
established the city of Kish and the first Mesopotamian empire, following
the flood) Nimrod founded great buildings and cities and founded the great
pyramid of the city of Babylon 201 years after the flood as a haven against
future flooding (Simon Kezai, Gesta Hungarorum, ca 1282) and as a temple
to god.

Csángo
Hungarian "Rege"

Hungarian

English
Translation

Csoda fia szarvas, ezer ága boga

Boy stag of wonder, with horns of a thousand branches and knobs

Ezer ága boga, ezer fénylö gyertya

Thousand branches and knobs and of a thousand bright candles

Szarva közöt hozza áldot napnak fényét

Amongst its horns it carries the light of the blessed sun

Homlokán a csillag, mellén a hold,

On it's forehead there is a star, on it's chest the moon

S elindul az égi Duna fenyes partjátol,

And it starts along the banks of the shining heavenly Danube

Hogy égi küldötként hírt adjon

That it may be the messenger of heaven and bringer of news

A teremtö és gondviselö istenünkröl.

About our creator and caring god

Nimrod
was a mighty warrior king who also expanded his empire to include much
of the northern and eastern territories and he and his people moved
there, to the land of Evilath, following the confusion of languages.
(Simon Kezai, Gesta Hungarorum, ca 1282) (according to Berrosus the
Babylonian historian, Bélas [Bel Nimrud] ruled for 56 years 130 years
following the flood, and built the tower of Babel in the land of Sinear
to the height of a mountain.) This land was latter called east Persia,
and lay next to Northern India.

Here
he married his first wife Eneth and she later bore him two twin sons
called Hunor and Magor. He later had other wives and from them were
born other sons and daughters who became the ancestors of the Parthians
or Persians. (In the medieval version it was the Persians, the inheritors
of the land of Iran, that are mentioned instead of the aboriginal
Scythic Parthians. In other medieval references though it is the Parthians
which are mentioned as being related.) The language of these people
was similar to the Hungarians but not quite the same.

His
first born sons were his pride and they spent much time with their
father, growing up in the palace and later they accompanied him on
his many hunts. Nimrod was a famous and great hunter who loved the
sport. During one of his hunting expeditions he took his sons with
him. During the hunt he spotted some game and separated from his sons
to pursue it. The two young men continued their own search and came
across a wondrous beast, a great horned doe, which shone in multicolor
lights and it's antlers glittering from light. (Mahmud Terdjuman, Tarihi
Ungurus The History
of the Hungarians,
1456; Translated by Joseph Blaskovich, Prauge, 1982)

Enchanted
by the heavenly beast they gave chase to it. The animal lead them across
glades and meadows onward toward the west. At dusk the beast vanished
so the two princes and their men camped for the night. At dawn the
hind reappeared and the chase continued afresh. It lead them through
foreign lands and across the mountains of Adjem (western Iran), through
wild and dangerous swamps of Meotis (The Sea of Azov, an inlet of the
Black Sea, was associated with Meotis because of the common ancient
name of this sea and because the Magyars and Huns lived there before
their settling in Hungary. It is unlikely however that this was the
original sea of the ancient legend) until they entered a beautiful
bountiful country. Here the hind lead them to a lake and jumped into
it and disappeared. This swampy land, called Meotis, is surrounded
by the sea on all sides except one where a shallow swampy land connects
it to the mainland making it difficult to enter. It is rich in birds,
fish and game and is situated on the borders of Persia.

The
two young men were filled with sadness and remorse because of the loss
of the hind. They returned to their father and asked him to build for
them a temple at the sight where they could retreat and contemplate
and prepare themselves. They then lived in the temple for 5 years,
and on the 6th year they were longing to return to the world when a
great teacher came to them and thought them the ways of being a great
king. (Terdjuman Mahmud, Tarihi Ungurus, 1456)

They
and their men then left the temple and scouted the nearby territories.
In the evening they camped and in the morning they awoke to the sound
of music. They followed the source of the music to a clearing in the
forrest where they spied the dancing and singing of young maidens who
were celebrating the festival of the horn. The name of a hind is "horned" in
Hungarian and this celebration was of the hind. The maidens in the clearing
were the daughters of the Bulars and amongst them were the two beautiful
daughters of the king, Dula. (Simon Kezai, Gesta Hungarorum, ca1282) (The
Persian version only has one prince, who similarly marries the queen of
the women, who called her self a doe with the name "sar-istani"
Sraw=horned in Avesta.)

The
two young men were so enchanted by the two princesses that they resolved
to marry them, so they and their men kidnapped all the women and married
them according to their custom. They settled on a great island in the
lake, which was well protected. Their descendants multiplied and populated
the nearby lands, founding the 108 clans of the Scythian nation. (108
was a "holy number" related to the astronomical rate of precession
of the equinoxes. Its also a holy number among Buddhists and the Buddha
himself was of the Scythian Sakia tribe.) The descendants of Hunor
and one of the princesses became the nation of the Huns, while the
descendants of Magor and the other princess became the nation of the
Magyars.

The
land of the Scythians stretched from north of the Black Sea to Central
Asia as far as the city of Samarkand. Their country bordered the country
of their father on the north and east. However a long time after the
death of their father the kingdom of Nimrod fell to a foreign ruler
from the west. This nation in later ages became Persia (around 500BC).
(See the Iranian legends of the struggles between Iran and Turan.)

This
is but the tip of the iceberg, because there is a lot more corroborating
information about this legend from ancient Mesopotamia. also from Assyrian
and Babylonian records. The legend amongst our language relatives including
FinnUgor, Huns, and others varies but is generally a star myth where
the
"great hunter" hunts the heavenly stagg (Ursa Major) and
kills it around Christmas time. The sun which is held in its horns
now escapes and becomes stronger, ushering in spring. However the calve
of the stagg repeats the event every year.

In Hun
art all the way from Mongolia and DungHuan caves of western China show
the magical hunt of the stagg by two twins. Even our "western?"
constellations Nimrod (Orion), Twins (Gemini) and the horned animal

(Taurus)
show the hunt. The myth is Asian and Scythian but even Babylonians
and others had the twin hunters part of their star lore.

The
Remnants of the Hun Legend of The Stag

According
to the Byzantine historian, Procopius: The nation of the Utigurs and
Kutigur Huns originate from the twin sons of a Hun king. The twins
separated from their father during the hunting of the Stag. These Huns
also had two princes called Mauger and Gorda (Magyar and Hunugur?)
who ruled after the death of their father. It is quite possible that
these were also related to the Magyars and ruled over them, since the
Mauger name of the "Hun"
prince could have been derived from the people/nation which he ruled,
the Magyars.

Stone
carving from a column representing the heavenly stag.

Remnant
of a Hun painting from Mongolia.

Another
descendant of the Huns are the Uygur (Yugor, Ugor) of eastern China which
even in their name appears to be related to the Hungarians. In their legend
a once great emperor had two sons called Tartar (Hunor) and Mungli (Maugor)
who became the ancestor of the Tartars and the Mongols. [Abul Ghazi Bahadur,
a 17 century historian of Khiva] This recalls the close association that
the Caucasian Ujgurs had with the Mongol royal family and is tied to a
later historical event, rather than to the original ancient legend of
origin.

Mesopotamia

Amongst
the many names of the god of wisdom and co-creator EA are Daramah,
meaning great stag. Dr Bobula Ida's essay on "The Great Stag, a Mesopotamian
Divinity", Buenos Aires is an excellent analysis and comparison of
similar words and customs with Hungarian Regös customs of the
end of the year and the traditions of the stag. For those who would
like this sent to them by EMAIL, drop me a note.

In Hungarian
knowledge, wisdom is based on the root word Tan, Tud, while god is
also Is-Ten. Therefore Tana is associated with Hea in meaning as well
as Pisces. In the Sumerian legends of the antediluvian kings the legend
of Etana is prominent. Etana's legend includes the visiting of heaven.
In Hungarian mythology Nimrod is the son of Etana, just as in Kushan-Scythian "Kush-Tana"
is the ancestor of the nation. In Asia Ten, Tien means god or heaven
also and Teno was the title of Hun emperors as in early Egypt S-Ten.
Similarly in Japanese.

In Persian
legend of the very early (pre Arian) period when Iran was civilized
by a western Mesopotamian ruler, Takma Urupi (Tana=Takma) whose wife
was also Eneth. Eneth or Nana are names of the mother goddess of waters,
rivers, and fertility among Mesopotamian and Scythian peoples. She
was symbolized by Virgo.

Persian
Version

In the
legends of Iran the ruler Feridun, a Scythian king who was a descendant
of Takhma Urupi (Nimrod), has three sons Tura, Sin, and Iredj. The
first two stick together against the third son who inherits Iran. Tura
becomes the ancestor of the Turanians, that is Scythians and Huns.
Nimrod was known by several names in the Near East and was also symbolized
by the constellations Sagitarius and Orion amongst the Turanian/Scythian
nations.

The
Persian Legend of the stag is Scythian in origin: Prince Rustvan-shad
(Rustam?), the son of the Chinese? emperor (an eastern emperor, more
likely the HUNs not the HANs) was hunting while he came across a wondrous
stag: his fur was blue (heavenly symbol), and his eyes looked like
rubies, his hooves shone as though they were of gold.

This
stag always lead him on and eluded him, he never could catch him. Finally
it lead him to a small lake where it jumped into it's center and disappeared.
The prince therefore camped and went to sleep and when he awoke he
heard gay laughing and music. Following the sounds he heard, he came
to a wondrous marble palace, and there surrounded by a dozen beautiful
young girls, sitting on a throne a beautiful goddess of a girl. He
asked her who she was, and she replied "Only a tame DOE, and my name is Sehr-istani."
(Old Iranian sraw=horn, Hungarian szarv, while Isten=god in old/pre-Iranian
and Hungarian.)

Egyptian
Chase of the Ram

Whether
we illustrate the story as the chase of the Stag or Ram is irrelevant
because the name of the stag is based on the word horned, and can be
any horned animal which is the symbol of the rebirth of light. The
Egyptian Cushite version of the chase explains the chase of the "Horned"
by the national ancestor-god-hero Osiris as follows.

As to
how the ram became the symbol of Ham, the following tradition survived.
--When Osiris was returning home after his triumphant African tour,
he and his army were unable to find water and were in a terrible state
of dehydration. They were on the verge of death when a ram appeared
in front of them. They viewed the appearance of the ram as a heavenly
sign and they at once gave chase. To their great astonishment and relief
the ram lead them to the shade and cool waters of an oasis. Osiris
(Dionisus) explained the event by saying that the ram was Amon (who
is symbolized as a ram) and to show his gratitude he raised a temple
to his honor on the spot. Amon was elevated to the stars as the constellation
of Aires (the ram) so that when the sun is in the house of Aires in
spring, nature shall revive it's life. The Egyptian dictionary explains
the word Cush to also mean tomb RAM, and this word is in accordance
with the Hungarian word for ram KOSH. Nimrod and his people were Cushites
and they also ruled Egypt at one time before founding Babylon.

The
Greek Version

The
Greeks also inherited many legends from their Scythian neighbors, which
included distorted versions of this story. Many Scythians were hired
into Greek armies, and some were servants. Certain Scythians became
prominent teachers in Greek cities.

In the
Greek story the twin sons of Zeus and Nemesis are known as Castor and
Pollux. (GEMINI) Castor and his brother Pollux steal the daughters
of Leukepius. (LEUK=white) Castor is the Cushite Tura, a son of Nimrod
after whom northern Mesopotamia (Eturia) and the Aral and Caspian lowlands
(Turan) were named. Pollux or Poly-deuces is Polly=Apolo is the sun
god whose other Near Eastern name is Makar (MAGOR). Zeus was once a
king in the Near East, a Kushite king (NIMROD) which the Greeks deified.

Another
Scythian legend recorded by the Greeks states that the sons of the
Scythian king named SCYTHES were Palos (Polux) and Naes (Castor, Nesus
are ancient ancestors of the Cushites). The meaning of SAKA, from which
Scyth comes from means Chief, Lord.

Another
Greek recorded the legend of the MEGARI of Anatolia, and of course
translated it into it's Greek equivalent, with slight changes. Here
Zeus marries a Scythian Nymph of the area, and from their union is
born Megaros, the ancestor of the people of Megari. Again the Scythian
connection is emphasized with the results that the Megari, Magyari
nation is created.)

Finnic
Version

In
the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, the stag is the favorite animal
of the queen of the underworld (Yumala), which leads the hero to his doom.
Kaleva is the mythical kingdom where much of the epic takes place. It
could be equated with Kalama of the Sumerians, the name of their country.

Ugrian
Version

In the
legend of the Ostjak, the hunting pair, with their whole tribe are
hunting for a reindeer. The animal baited them on towards the north,
where finally it turned into fog. In the age, when the first ice-rain
(snow) began to fall. (The coming of the ice age trapped the hunting
nation?)

In northern
Siberia, the heavenly reindeer, symbolized by the big dipper, steals
the sun, and that is why there is no sun for half a year in the arctic.
When the mythical hunter, who is often symbolized by a bear, kills
the female reindeer, it starts the new days.

This
is an important key to the stories, for the chase after the stag
is a hunt for the return of the sun, which during winter is taken
away by the stag. The hunters are searching for it's light and heat.
Perhaps a southern migration from northern pastures with the coming
of winter? The recapturing of it (the sighting of the southern constellation?)
then brings back summer. The girls of the legend are the does, the
daughters of light (Leukepius in Greek), who return the light and
fertility of the sun. For that reason they have names which indicate "light, white, burning.." Dula=Gyula,Gyul...,
Sar=gold,light, stag. Bular or Bugur=stag in Turkic.

Japanese
Version

The
twin brothers chase the stag. They get into an argument, probably about
which way the stag disappeared, and one brother goes east and finds Japan,
while the other goes west.

Maya
Indian version

The
sons of Hun Hun-apu, the god of the hunt, are the heavenly twins [GEMINI],
known as Hunapu (HUNOR) who is warlike like his father and Ixbalenque
(MAGOR), who is more peaceful. Their adventures, with their 400 warriors
includes the kidnapping the women. Their jealous half brothers chased
them, but they turned them into monkeys (i.e. make monkeys of them?).